Four counties get relief from burn ban, but much of the area remains under a Forestry Service high risk advisory
Four Arkansas River Valley counties lifted countywide burn bans on Oct. 2 after nearly two months of restrictions, but the relief is narrow. The Arkansas Forestry Division list checked at 7:19 a.m. Oct. 3 still showed 53 of the state’s 75 counties under a ban, and it rated every county in Arkansas, including the ones that just opened burning back up, at high wildfire risk.
Across the state line, Oklahoma Forestry Services was still carrying county bans in Sequoyah, Le Flore, Haskell, and Latimer, with no governor’s statewide ban in effect.
Johnson County’s ban, in place since Aug. 10, came off Oct. 2. Logan County’s, in place since Aug. 3, came off the same day.
Crawford County Judge Chris Keith lifted that county’s ban, in place since Aug. 12, effective 9 a.m. Oct. 2. Franklin County’s ban, in place since Aug. 7, was also lifted Oct. 2. Washington County, just north of the valley, lifted its ban the same afternoon after a restriction that began Aug. 11. Yell County was off the countywide list by the Oct. 3 checks, after a ban that trackers dated to Sept. 18.
The lifts did not clear the valley. Pope County has been under a ban since Sept. 22, when County Judge Ben Cross prohibited open burning except gas and charcoal grills. Pope is in extreme drought on the latest map, with about 61 percent of the county in drought. Scott and Sebastian counties were still on the Forestry Division ban list the morning of Oct. 3.
Scott County Emergency Management said the rain that has fallen was not enough to lift the ban, and that dry fuels and wildfire risk remain a concern. Madison and Carroll counties were also still banned. Boone and Newton were not on the ban list. Franklin is the messy case: the county announced a lift on Oct. 2, but Franklin was still named on the Forestry Division ban list on Oct. 3.
County orders control on the ground. The state list can lag, so anyone in Franklin should confirm with the county before lighting a pile.
Where burning is legal again, the counties are treating it as a privilege with conditions, not a free pass. Johnson County is telling residents to call every burn in to the communications center at (479) 774-6911, not to leave a fire unattended, and to make sure conditions are safe before a match is struck. The person who starts the fire is responsible for keeping it.
